[quote][i]Unfortunately, despite the importance of promoting a drugfree
culture, it appears that the Official MOON 2.0 Mission
T-shirt (Item: GLXP #173798) was designed to appeal to a
drug cult mentality relating to â€œmagic mushroomsâ€

With a name like Eurica Califorrniaa, he, surely, has to be taking the pi**.

Presumably, since he doesn't like the word 'paraphernalia' because of its drug reference (I use it all the time, and don't do drugs), and other words used in that context must also be outlawed. Syringe, den, lord, crack, bong.

In December 2008, NASA announced the selection of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 launch vehicle and Dragon Spacecraft to resupply the International Space Station (ISS) when the Space Shuttle retires in 2010. The $1.6 billion contract represents a minimum of 12 flights, with an option to order additional missions for a cumulative total contract value of up to $3.1 billion.

Here, concern is raised over the naming of the publicly funded Dragon Spacecraft and the willingness of SpaceX to maintain a drug-free environment. As a case in point, SpaceX CEO and CTO Elon Musk made a symbol of holding a marijuana cigarette with his hand and announced the following at the Google Zeitgeist Conference 2008: "Dragon was actually named after Puff the Magic Dragon, because so many people thought I was smoking weed to do this venture." ("Weed" is a slang term for marijuana.) Of additional concern is that the X PRIZE Foundation, of which Mr. Musk is a board member, appears to be using an image of a hallucinogenic mushroom, with the words "Join the Revolution," as a logo for the Google Lunar X PRIZE.

After Mr. Musk admitted to naming the Dragon Spacecraft with a hidden drug message in mind, an audience member suggested that the next spacecraft should be named "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds." This is a cult reference to the drug LSD. This shows that the naming of the Dragon Spacecraft has already had a viral effect on the public. (Recall that during Apollo virally crazed youth spaced out on drugs to simulate space exploration through escapism.)

Rather than just keeping the hidden meaning of "Dragon" to himself, Mr. Musk elected to popularize recognition for a drug message. Seeing the viral effect Mr. Musk's announcement had on the audience, public support for SpaceX should be suspended until a commitment to drug-free community standards is fully assured by the company.

_________________Oh, I wish I was an Oscar Mayer Wienerrover...That is what I'd truly like to be--ee--ee.'Cause if I was an Oscar Mayer Wienerrover...I'd have a chance to win G-L-X-P! americanspacehip.com

Does the naming of the Dragon have a hidden meaning - if so, its not very well hidden, since Elon Musk stated it was named after the song, Puff the Magic Dragon*, because of what people thought he was smoking when he came up with the idea.

I emphasis thought. There is no evidence to say that My Musk WAS smoking weed at the time he thought of the idea, or that any of his employees were smoking weed. Mr Musk was using a amusing anecdote to explain the naming of his Spacecraft. He doesn't appear to be promoting the use of drugs of any sort. The use of the phrase "what were you smoking when you thought of that" is extremely commonplace in all walks of life. It does not promote the use of drugs, or glorify the same. In fact, depending on the circumstances, exactly the opposite could be inferred.

It appears that the Dragon spacecraft was named Dragon as a JOKE. Nothing more sinister than that.

If people want to suggest otherwise, or see drug promotion/glorification where non is present, then I would suggest that they are the ones who attitude needs examining/adjusting, not Mr Musk.

*Puff the Magic dragon : The authors of the song have strongly and consistently denied that they intended any references to drug use. So, it's not even a very good joke....

Mr. Musk's confession of his use of a drug-related reference in the naming of the NASA-funded Dragon spacecraft, which is manufactured by SpaceX, comes at approximatey 18:00 min. in the following YouTube video from the Google Zeitgeist Conference 2008:

It is sad to think that today's enthusiams of space exploration are going hand-in-hand in some circles with the memory of drug exploration that took place during the Apollo era. It can be seen from the video that when the audience was asked what the name of the next SpaceX spacecraft should be the name Bristol was received blandly by Mr. Musk and Dr. Peter Diamandis, founder of the X PRIZE, with Palin receiving a bit better response. However, when an audience member suggests "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" as the name for the next SpaceX spacecraft, which is a cult reference to the drug LSD, both Mr. Musk and Dr. Diamandis show heightened elation and nod their approval.

As described at my website, http://www.bunnyventures.com, the Moon 2.0 logo of the Google Lunar X PRIZE, sponsored by Google and the X PRIZE, appears to have the subliminal look of a drug mushroom, such as was popularized, along with LSD, during the space exploration of the Apollo era.

Apparently, there is a psychological connection being made between the escapism of space exploration and the escapism of drug use. I find it disastrous and completely unacceptable, however, to allow this unproductive connection to be made once again. I would ask concerned citizens, both corporate and private, to help break this connection by insisting on drug-free space exploration.

JamesHughes,

Perhaps you missed the following quotation above: "Rather than just keeping the hidden meaning of "Dragon" to himself, Mr. Musk elected to popularize recognition for a drug message." This makes the seriousness of the matter unequivocal.

_________________Oh, I wish I was an Oscar Mayer Wienerrover...That is what I'd truly like to be--ee--ee.'Cause if I was an Oscar Mayer Wienerrover...I'd have a chance to win G-L-X-P! americanspacehip.com

I call it a "White Paper Website". It saves me money because I can use another website to store stuff and only have to spend $10/yr. at GoDaddy.com for the convenient address. Then if later I decide to do an elaborate website, I can convert. Plus, it's just for people to read stuff. There's not a lot of frills.

_________________Oh, I wish I was an Oscar Mayer Wienerrover...That is what I'd truly like to be--ee--ee.'Cause if I was an Oscar Mayer Wienerrover...I'd have a chance to win G-L-X-P! americanspacehip.com